White Night (The Dresden Files, Book 9) by Jim Butcher Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of White Night (The Dresden Files, Book 9)
Book Review: Fantasy thriller
Summary: 4 Stars
"White Night", JIm Butcher's ninth installment of the Dresden Files unfortunately was my introduction to this series. With no prior background it was somewhat difficult to decipher the order of things and nuances of protagonist Harry Dresden's supernatural world.
Dresden, you see, is a Chicago based private investigator but also a wizard imbued with mystical powers and toting both a .44 magnum handgun and staff capable of dispensing lethal Hellfire. Dresden who holds the exalted status of warden in the White Council of wizards, often works with Sgt. Murphy of Chicago P.D.'s Special Investigation unit on matters outside the realm of normalcy. They presently were collaborating on a case involving the serial murders of a number of Chicago women in possesion of magical powers. The crime scenes contained clues that could only be discerned by someone with Dresden's mystical ability.
Evidence seems to point to Dresden's brother Thomas, a vampire, as the culprit in the killings. As the plot thickens we learn that the White Council is at odds with both the White and Red Courts of vampires. The killings of the local women is following a similar pattern seen in other large cities and that some nefarious plot is being hatched. Dresden recruits his long ago first love, the magically endowed Elaine Mallory with Chicago's pre-eminent crime lord John Marcone and West coast based warden Carlos Ramirez, and his apprentice the unrefined but powerful Molly to fight against the forces of darkness in a final battle which will decide the fate of the supernatural order of things.
Butcher's imaginative fable was quite well conceived but made me realize that I needed background information to appreciate it more fully.
Book Review: Butcher Continues to Amaze Me
Summary: 4 Stars
White Night is the 9th installment of the Dresden Files and many series would have been a victim of their own success. Redundant plots, stagnation of character development and loss of focus are all temptations that Mr. Butcher could have fallen into. Lucky for us he does not.
White Night is fun, exciting, and full of suspense and urgency. I could not put the book down. While Harry has been growing into his power, he is still fallable with sometimes less then perfect judgement.
Mr. Butcher's use of new characters with old keeps the plot fresh and always asking what is going to be next. I can not wait for the next book.
If anything, White Night is even better then its earlier brethren and Mr Butcher is becoming one of the best fantasy writers. Highly recommend the series and book
Book Review: More than just another quick read
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a big fan of Harry, but this novel takes things a step further.
Not only did I reject real life intruding on my reading time, but I was immediately in need of sharing some of the passages.
One section on the need for pain touched me and is stuck in my mind. This is definitely a keeper worthy of more than one reread
Book Review: Another Good vs. Evil Story
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the ninth installment of the Dresden Files novels featuring Harry Dresden, Wizard for Chicago.
In each book, Harry is confronted with all kinds of nasty creatures from the Never Never: Vampires, Ghouls, other Wizards, Faeries, Necromancers and generally all around bad things who wreak havoc on the humans around them, as well as each other.
In this book, Harry is in the middle of a war. Oh, there is a war going on between the White Council of Magic, the good guys and the Red Court of the Vampires, the bad guys. But now the White Court of Vampires, one of which is Harry's brother Thomas, are in-fighting amongst themselves to make each House of the White Court the ruling House. They are doing this by killing off human women who could potentially produce offspring strong enough to overcome the Vampires altogether and win the war for the White Council. And the houses are each blaming the other, as well as using deceit, manipulation and all kinds of ghouls to complete the task.
Seems a bit extreme, but there are real bodies, and Harry jumps in to do what he can to save the ones who are left. He is joined by many of the characters that were introduced in previous books, Elaine, his first love, Johnny Marcone, the gangster who wishes to rule all of Chicago's human criminal activities, Sgt. Murphy, of the Chicago Police Department, Molly, Harry's apprentice, and of course, Bob the Skull, and now we see what powers Mouse, Harry's Temple Dog, really has. Sometimes bringing such diverse people together to solve a problem can be a problem in itself, as haryy learns.
Harry also brings in another Warden, Ramirez from California to help out with the subtle spells, since Harry is more of the Blow-them-wide open and burn everything type of Wizard. Ramierez is more subtle with his magic, but no less effective.
Here also, we see Harry dealing with some anger issues and finally dealing with the fallen angel Lasciel.
Some loose ends are tied up in this book, but other storylines are revealed for another episode in the life of Chicago Wizard Harry Dresden.
Book Review: Maybe the best yet!
Summary: 5 Stars
Hoo-boy, this book was worth the wait. Quite possibly the best in the series. Everything is right: some loose ends tied up, some questions answered, some loose ends NOT tied up and saved for later, old friends, new thrills, and a kick at the end that you won't see coming. And (collateral benefit) Michael is not in it, nor his sanctimonious magic-denying wife, either. Molly, that best of the Carpenter breed, IS in it, and a welcome presence she is. The story focuses on machinations within the White Court of Vampires, with a not-really-surprise appearance by a former Dresden foe, who remains an enigmatic presence at book's end. Not as much Bob as I like, and not as much Mister, but there it is. This is a stellar addition to the series, and I can't wait for the next one. Whenever that may be; in the author's notes, Butcher waxes rhapsodic about his latest series, the Codex Alera, a more standard fantasy series, and I'm hoping hard that developing it doesn't take his interest from The Dresden Files.